RC1 Installation Thoughts Installing and Upgrading Vista Discuss RC1 Installation Thoughts in the Windows Vista forums; Hi Friends: I chose to do an upgrade from 5536. The upgrade process failed previously when I moved from 5472 to 5536, but it might have worked if I had ...

[Znod]

Hi Friends:

I chose to do an upgrade from 5536. The upgrade process failed previously when I moved from 5472 to 5536, but it might have worked if I had tried again. Anyway, this process worked extremely well in moving from 5536 to 5600. Everything was just as it had been under 5536, except that I had to install my Synaptics Touchpad driver again.

I know that most insist on clean installs. I originally upgraded from XP Pro to 5384, and, as best I can tell, my system worked as well as anyone else's. When moving from 5384 to 5472, I installed over 5384 so I would have a Windows.old folder. Once more, I can't see that my system was worse than anyone else's. Now, I have upgraded again, and, so far, my system is working flawlessly--except that Explorer quits working occassionally and has to regain consciousness.

I probably am one of the few who will, but I recommend upgrades and install overs--especially if you get tired of reinstalling so much software, transferring your files, downloading missing software, finding software keys, setting settings, and etc. If it doesn't work out only a little time is lost.

As a preliminary, I had brought my XP Pro drive up to date and had ghosted it just in case I ended up upgrading from Pro. But, even that time was not lost because I needed to update my XP Pro disk image anyway.

crabby will take the other side shortly. of course.

[crabby]

Lol, well I am glad that the upgrades work better But yes your are right... I will still opt for a full install It is much easier for me however as (to keep up performance) I have a partition for the windows install only... then one for games... one for video... one for misc media (incl. music)... one for torrents.

So to conclude... your words have swayed me! Anyone with a single partition do an upgrade :P

crabby

[Znod]

I have a single partition on my Vista drive. Does that count?

[felix8406]

Znod, did you have any issues before upgrading from 5536 to 5600 that were not solved, and do you still have those issues? How about your performance, did it get better? Finally, any big difference between the two builds?

[felix8406]

Sorry, somehow I did a doubleclick and send two copies of same replies. disregard this reply.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by felix8406

Znod, did you have any issues before upgrading from 5536 to 5600 that were not solved, and do you still have those issues? How about your performance, did it get better? Finally, any big difference between the two builds?

I still have the "base device issue," mentioned elsewhere in the forum, but nothing seems to be affected. Windows Explorer still loses consciousness sometimes. I could not get a performance score in 5536. Now, I get one--which is good except for the effects of my integrated graphics. I posted my score somewhere on the forum as I recall. On both of the last items, check my recent posts. Still can't partner with my hand-held or sync it with Outlook. BT works better. Oh, importantly, sleep now works perfectly. Sleep was badly broken in 5536. Network printing does not disappear occassionally as it did under 5536. I no longer get indications from Ad-Watch Monitoring that something is trying to change my registry. Oh, I don't pay much attention to how fast my machine starts or stops, but it seems to start faster. If I think of more differences, then I'll add them on this thread.

I can't remember if I posted my RC1 performance score or the indication of my base-device "problem." I am attaching pics just in case. Edit: Ah, I found everything. Check out my recent posts in the "Vista Bugs and Problems" section.

[felix8406]

I see u still have that base system device issue. I'm assuming your system to be a laptop because the 1st item shown is the battery info. If a desktop, is your graphics built in, AGP or PCIe? My desktop has an NVidia built in and performance score was 1.0, I disabled it and installed a Radeon 256MB PCIe and it went to 3.6. Also, r there any add-ins or deletions to RC1 from the pre-RC1? If it's the same, why the release of pre-RC1?

[Znod]

RC1 should offer improvements in reliability/function. As indicated, my system reliability/function is better in various ways than under 5536--with more "betterness" probably still to be discovered/noticed.

[felix8406]

I did an upgrade from 5536 to 5600 and it took over an hour. Then I did a clean install and took less than 25 minutes. My suugestion is to do a clean install. If u cannot do a clean isntall becuase u want to keep your current data, remember that this is a beta that will expire Jul 07. If u upgrade now, u won't be able to go back to your previous version. I'm not sure if 5600 can be upgrade once the final Vista rolls around. Installing Vista on a separate partition would be a good choice.

[Znod]

In addition to the 25 minutes, how long did it take you to set your settings, reinstall all of your programs, load your data files, etc., etc.?

And, you can't go back to square one whether you upgrade or do a clean install. But, I agree, with a beta, I want a path back to where I started. So, I have several ways to get back--an XP Pro drive and an image of my XP Pro drive. I would have the same alternatives had I done a clean install. Whether doing an upgrade or doing a clean install, one needs to have his/her data well backed up.

In short, upgrade and clean install are pretty much equivalent provided that both yield well-functioning systems. The difference is that ugrade is simpler and perhaps faster from an overall perpective. And, upgrade is not nearly so labor intensive.